


Steam Powered Radio

by ClockworkDinosaur (orphan_account)



Category: Fallout (Video Games), Steam Powered Giraffe
Genre: Another crossover that nobody wanted, Crossover, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-08
Updated: 2016-09-14
Packaged: 2018-07-22 06:02:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,544
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7422742
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/ClockworkDinosaur
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The automatons wake up alone in an unknown place and try to piece together what happened to them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> (Loosely) based on the fact that David is planning a mod for Fallout 4 that adds a Steam Powered Giraffe radio station to the game: http://davidmichaelbennett.tumblr.com/post/146269068934/the-band-and-i-are-working-on-a-mod-for-fallout-4

“Rabbit. Rabbit, wake up.”

The voice came from far away, static and the sound of long-stilled gears whirring back to life after years of disuse making the deep voice nearly intelligible. Mismatched eyes fluttered open after a minute. The Spine grinned in relief, his green eyes shining in his silver face.

“Geez, I was so worried,” he breathed. “Hey Hatchy! She's over here, she's okay!” The Spine called, and the bronze robot nearly knocked The Spine over in his excitement to see his sister. Rabbit blinked at the two robots, who stared back at her expectantly.

“H-h-hey guys,” she managed, clenching and stretching her stiff hands. “Wh-what's goin' on? Where are w-w-we?”

“Well,” The Spine started, his face twisting into a frown, “we don't actually know.”

“Wha-a-at?”

“That's the thing, we don't remember where we are or anything,” Hatchworth said, helping Rabbit sit up from the metal table. “Spine woke up somehow, then he woke me up, and then we both went looking for you.”

“The last thing I remember is sitting in the manor, and the bomb sirens went off,” The Spine said. “After that, it's all dark.” The Spine shuddered. He wasn't used to having gaps in his usually perfect memory.

“It's the same for me too,” Hatchworth chimed in. Rabbit frowned.

“A-after the bomb sirens... I re-re-remember the Walter Workers p-p-panicing,” she said slowly, the recollections hazy. “And we all hurrie-ed into the van, tr-tr-trying to get t-t-to- _AGH!_ ” She stopped suddenly, a gasket in her head blowing with a pop. “Ah geez...” she said, her voice wavering as smoke began pouring out of her vents.

“It's alright Rabbit, don't push yourself,” The Spine said. “Let's get that fixed, and you can tell us what you remember, okay?” he said soothingly. Rabbit nodded slowly, the malfunction making everything feel strange and far-away.

“She doesn't look too good,” Hatchworth muttered.

The Spine frowned. “It would have taken years of neglect for her to start breaking down this bad,” he said, before looking at Hatchworth with wide eyes.

“What happened to us?”  
  


 

The Spine and Hatchworth stood by the door, the only door that seemed to lead out of the storage room the three bots had woken up in.

“We're not in the manor anymore. We don't know what's out there,” Hatchworth said quietly, adjusting his glasses over his electric blue photo-receptors, “How do you know we weren't packed away for our own safety?”

“We don't,” The Spine said with a shrug. “But maybe we were only packed away for a few months, and someone out there can repair Rabbit and tell us what happened.” The Spine did his best to sound confident, but knew with some certainty that he and his siblings had been shut down far longer than a few months. He had no idea what would be beyond the door, and he was terrified. Hatchworth stared at him for a moment.

“Are you sure you want to go out there? Maybe there are things in here we can fix her with ourselves and we can wait for someone to come for us.”

The Spine sighed. “We can't stay in here forever. We used up the three water bottles we found when we powered on, and we're going to need more. There's nothing in there that can help us. This is our only option.”

With that, he pressed the button that opened the door, the two halves sliding apart and disappearing into the ceiling and floor. Beyond that was darkness, the small red lights set high on the walls doing nothing to illuminate the hallway that stretched into nothingness.

“Inviting,” Hatchworth said dryly.

“Does this place look familiar to you?” The Spine asked, raising the brightness on his eyes so their green glow cut through the gloom as he started forward.

“Not at all,” Hatchworth said, following his lead. Their heavy footsteps echoed down the hallway, the light from their eyes casting deep shadows in the doorways that branched off into empty housing rooms. Curious, the two stepped inside one, casting a glowing gaze on the utilitarian furniture. A layer of dust covered everything, dust mites stirred up by the movements of the two robots hovering in the air.

Hatchworth and The Spine looked at each other, concerned. Wherever they were, there wasn't anyone else around.

“Do you think we should go back?” Hatchworth said as the two left the room. They hesitated in the hallway.

“Well... we couldn't find any tools to fix Rabbit up in that storage room. I think we should look around a bit more, see if there are any tools, and maybe some water,” The Spine said. Hatchworth nodded in agreement, and the two continued down the hallway.

They found the first signs of life when they entered some sort of common area. Tables and chairs stood underneath long-dead lights, and couches faced dark television screens.

The Spine felt his core go cold when he saw a skeletal hand draped over the back of a couch. Hatchworth seemed to spot the hand at the same time, and looked at The Spine with wide eyes.

“Is that a...” He trailed off as The Spine made his way around the couch. There the rest of the skeleton laid, its head tilted back and mouth open in what could have been mistaken for eternal laughter. The Spine looked over the tattered and moth-eaten strips of cloth that still hung from the bones with a deep frown.

“We're alone here, aren't we?” Hatchworth whispered, his eyes wide.

“So it seems,” The Spine said, taking a step back. Hatchworth glanced at the full skeleton once before his eyes darted away.

“Let's keep looking around,” the bronze bot said, and the two continued to explore.

They were silent for a few minutes, searching for a supply closet. They left most doors unopened, too afraid to see what, or who, may be inside.

After several more tense, quiet minutes, Hatchworth gasped, pointing at a room with a sigh saying “supplies” next to it. The Spine grinned.

“Attaboy, Hatchy!”

The door slid open with a groan, and Hatchworth made a triumphant sound as he grabbed at a shiny red toolbox on a low shelf. The Spine laughed as he grabbed a crate of water.

“We hit the jackpot here, Hatchy-boy,” he said, and the two excitedly headed back to their storage room.

 


	2. Chapter 2

Rabbit flinched as the replacement gasket clicked into place. Hatchworth stood nearby, wringing his hands as The Spine dug around in Rabbit's head, wires spilling over her shoulders like a waterfall of hair.

“That should do it,” The Spine said in a satisfied tone.

“Ow,” Rabbit replied, pouting.

“You're welcome.” The Spine began twisting the wires back up, replacing them in Rabbit's head and bolting the top of her skull back into place. Rabbit grabbed her long pink wig and styled it back in place. She looked up and smiled sweetly at her brother.

“Th-thank you, Spine, thank you Hatchy.”

The silver robot nodded, smiling. “It's good to have you back, Rabbit.”

She grinned, standing up and stretching, metal groaning and joints popping as she reached towards the ceiling.

“So, before I...uh... Before those sh-sh-shenanigans, I was sayin' that once the b-bomb sirens went off, we all got in the van. You, Hatchy, me, Peter, and the head Walter techs. And we all drove to one of those... Vault thingies? I d-d-don't remember... ” she trailed off, her eyes going far-away.

 

Mornings in Walter Manor were rarely quiet, and that morning, October twenty-third, 2077, was no exception. The Spine was lecturing Rabbit- again- about stealing the toaster from the kitchen. Rabbit's counter argument was something about the injustice of keeping a sentient being as nothing more than a tool. Hatchworth was watching the exchange with raised eyebrows, munching on a slice of toast as a Walter Worker shouted at him to drop it. Peter Walter the Seventh seemed to be planning a project, occasionally shouting a seemingly random equation or phrase over the din, scribbling on the papers that cluttered the entire table. Coffee stained a few of the papers as he clammed his cup down with a sudden shout of “forty two!” and began writing furiously.

Time seemed to stop when a shrill shriek cut through the air. Nobody moved, the piercing tone seeming to lock them in place. Peter felt the siren deep in his chest, his heart thudding against his ribcage. The Spine was the first to move, grabbing Rabbit by the arm and putting his hand on Peter's shoulder.

“Peter, we need to go,” The Spine said, keeping his low voice as soothing as possible. Peter only looked at the robot, his eyes panicked and confused.

“That's the bomb siren,” he muttered, his tone faintly bewildered.

“I know, that's why we need to go!” He shook Peter's shoulder a bit, and the young man shook his head.

“Right... right! We need to go, we need to get to the Vault,” he said, taking charge suddenly. The Spine followed him out of the room, still pulling a very dazed Rabbit and an upset Hatchworth by the arms as the two Walter workers followed with identically frightened faces.

They hurried through the otherwise silent and empty Manor, Peter only stopping to grab his keys from a table before everyone hurried outside, the van fitting all six of the Walters comfortably. Peter sped down the driveway, the roads eerily empty as the sirens continued to shriek and echo. Occasionally they passed by groups of people, their eyes turned to the sky with a mix of terror and acceptance. War was inevitable, but everyone had hoped for one more day, one more normal day that the noose would dangle empty.

Of course, that was their wish every day, and when the noose was suddenly tightened it was only half the shock it should have been.

Peter's reckless driving got them to the gate that enclosed the vault in less than five minutes. Without bothering to turn the van off, Peter threw open the door, the rest following closely behind.

Rabbit managed to shake herself out of her daze when they were stopped at the gate.

“Are these robots Vault-Tec certified?” asked one of the guards.

“I- uh, yeah, they are,” Peter said shakily. “I have their clearance here.”

“Are we r-r-really arguing over paperwork while bombs head-head-head towards us?” Rabbit said, the volume of her voice bordering on screaming.

The Spine put a hand on her shoulder and shook his head. A minute later they were through the gate and heading towards a door set into the ground, the Vault-Tec logo on the door shiny and new.

Behind them, the distant booming began, bright flashes of light reflecting on the shiny doors as people began panicking, stampeding through the doors as the rumbling grew closer.

The Spine grabbed for his siblings' hands and ran.

 

“A-a-after that, I don't remember much. We were separated from Peter and the Wal-Wal-Walter workers when we came in, and sent to a si-si-side room, then... nothing.

Hatchworth and The Spine were quiet as Rabbit finished her stuttering re-telling of the events that led up to where they were. They sat on the floor, as there was no real furniture in the storage room.

“So... nuclear war. Are you sure, Rabbit?” The Spine said after a few moments of silence passed.

“ _Yeah,_ Th'Spine, I am one hun-hundred percent sure.”

The Spine shook his head. “I'm sorry, it's just... It's so hard to believe. Though that would explain how we got here, but why don't Hatchy and I remember? And why... Why are we the only ones left?” For the first time, The Spine sounded genuinely lost. Rabbit shook her head.

“After we got inside, it's all sorta static-y. I d-d-don't remember clearly,” she said, looking down at her hands. “S-sorry.”

“That isn't your fault, Rabbs,” Hatchworth said softly. “I'm sure there's some way to know what happened to us. Maybe if we find out where Peter...was,” he said, the past tense falling heavily into the room. All three were quiet again.

“I can't be-believe we're the only ones here,” Rabbit whispered. “D-do ya think we're the only ones... anywhere?”

“That can't be,” Hatchworth said quickly. “Maybe there's people outside. And other vaults.”

“We don't know what the outside is like,” The Spine reminded him. “We don't really know anything.”

“Guess we g-gotta find out,” Rabbit said as she stood.

“We are _not_ going outside,” The Spine said firmly. Rabbit pouted, sitting back down with her her arms crossed.

“So what do we do then?” Hatchy asked.

“We'll look around here for information. Maybe figure out when and how things went so wrong,” The Spine said. “Perhaps we can even get the power turned on so we aren't relying on our eyes and the emergency lights.”

Rabbit's frown deepened. “Are y-y-ya sure we're the only ones in here?”

“Yes Rabbit, I am one hundred percent sure,” The Spine said, eyebrow raised as he tossed her sarcastic answer back at her. Rabbit glared.

“Well, someone had to have left some sort of... records? A journal maybe?” Hatchworth said, eyes beneath his glasses squinted in thought. “Maybe we can find out what happened...”

“Well, that's a good place to start,” The Spine nodded. “We split up an l-”

“Nope!” Rabbit interjected, covering The Spine's mouth with a gloved hand. He looked at her indignantly, slapping her hand away.

“Why not?” he asked. “We need to find out what happened, and the three of us could cover more ground separately.”

“Do y-y-ya know what happens to the girls in horror m-movies that get separated from the group in a sc-sc-scary unknown place? They die,” she said dramatically. The Spine rolled his eyes.

“Rabbit, you're a robot and we're the only ones here. You'll be fine,” The Spine said reassuringly. Hatchworth nodded as he stood.

“'Sides, we're all wirelessly linked anyway. If you need us, you can get a hold of us.”

Rabbit sighed. “Fine. B-b-but I don't like this.” She stood and crossed her arms, following The Spine to the door.

“You're gonna want to turn the lights up,” Hatchworth said as the door slid open and the dark hallway stretched on. Nervously, Rabbit nodded and her mismatched photo-receptors glowed bright. As a group, the three automatons went down the hall. The Spine was the first to separate, heading down an unexplored hallway with a nod at his siblings. They watched him as the darkness unbroken by their bright eyes swallowed him whole.

Hatchworth and Rabbit walked together in silence for a few minutes until they reached an atrium of some sort.

“You take the bottom floor rooms, I'll take the top floor,” Hatchworth said, and Rabbit nodded in affirmation.

Hatchworth climbed the stairs to explore, the first door he got to sliding open in front of him. A dusty office of some sort greeted him, several desks with dark terminals and empty chairs the only thing to greet him.

He had just began rummaging through one long-abandoned desk when a shrill shriek cut through the air, the piercing note echoing through the vault.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter might take a bit to write, I have 2 or 3 other things I'm working on at the same time, along with the first day of my first year of college quickly approaching. Thank you all for your wonderful comments so far!!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this chapter while feverish, feel free to point out any mistakes I made.

The Spine was running before he even completely registered that the echoing scream came from Rabbit. Instinct took over and he sped through the hallways until he found Hatchworth and Rabbit standing on a desk and yelling incoherently at an exceedingly large roach. With a yell of his own, The Spine stomped on the insect.

“B-b-b-bugs should NOT be ov-v-ver a foot long!” Rabbit cried.

“How did... Where did that some from?” The Spine said with disgust.

“I think,” Hatchworth began as he climbed off the desk and helped Rabbit down as well, “the radiation from the nuclear bombs affected insects. Maybe other things too.”

The Spine nodded his agreement. “It must have taken a while for a roach to evolve to this size though. If I had to make a guess, I'd say it's been over a hundred years.”

Rabbit looked at him with wide eyes. “Th-that long?”

“I'm just guessing,” The Spine said, holding up a hand before Rabbit could panic. “We need to look around more before we know for certain how long it's been. In fact, I had just found Peter's room before I heard you scream,” he said. “Knowing him, I'm sure he kept a journal of some sort.”

“It's a good place to start!” Hatchworth said brightly.

The Spine nodded and led the other bots to the room he had quickly vacated. Scraps of paper covered the walls, clipboards and folders covering every available surface. The terminal on the desk, half buried underneath papers and coffee mugs, still turned on when The Spine pressed the power button. Numerous entries filled the screen, and The Spine clicked the first one as he sat in the old wooden desk chair.

 

_The bots had to be shut down. Take up too many resources, they say. Didn't even get a chance to say goodbye. Will figure out a way to at least explain things._

 

The bots exchanged worried glances. Without a word, The Spine selected the next entry, dated a few days after their arrival.

 

_Hoping that eventually I'll find out where bots are kept. Not sure what do do after that, I can't keep them powered down forever. Can't keep them on, and I have to leave them where I find them. But I can't leave them there, I know that._

 

The next entry was written over two weeks later.

 

_Vault set up new rules. Curfews, strict food rations, death penalty. No mercy. Training every day dawn to dusk. Training for what?_

 

A few weeks later.

 

_Too tired to search. Too weak to resist. Not enough food, sleep, or water. Don't know what the point of the training is but there's no break. A few have dropped in the training block. Fearing I might be the next._

 

The last entry waited on screen. The Spine hesitated. He looked up at Rabbit and Hatchworth, who put a hand on each of his shoulders. With a frown, he opened the last entry.

 

_To the bots- If you're reading this, chances are I've been dead for decades, if not centuries. Chances are, everyone in the vault has been dead for just as long. This vault was meant to fail I believe. There clearly wasn't enough food or water, and the guards were cruel and took pleasure in the pain of us residents._

_You need to figure out how the outside world is now. In the Overseer's office is a radio. Use it to communicate with the surface. But be careful. You're safe inside the vault, but don't be afraid to explore. You're fighters. You were built to last. Survive. You're the last legacy of Peter Walter the first, keep it alive._

_Yours, Peter the Seventh._

 

 

The bots were quiet, the ticking of their gears the only sound in the room. Oil dripped from Rabbit's eyes as he stared at Peter's words. The Spine's face was set in a tight frown. Hatchy looked between them with wide eyes.

“Now what?” he asked.

“We get to the radio...” The Spine trailed off.

“We d-d-don't know what's out there,” Rabbit pointed out. “Do we really wanna broadcast our-our-our location?”

“She has a point,” Hatchworth said.

The Spine thought for a minute. “Well... I assume nothing can get in without us letting it in, aside from perhaps giant mutated cockroaches. But at the same time, why invite anyone here? I think we're set on supplies for a while. Eventually we will need water though. People need to know we're here and we mean no harm,” he said.

Hatchworth suddenly stood up straight. “I've got it!” He reached into his hatch and pulled out a few old holotapes.

Rabbit tilted her head. “Our mu-mu-music?” she asked.

“Yeah! We'll get people tuning in all the time, and if we need to trade we'll ask between songs!”

“That makes a lot of sense, Hatchy!” The Spine said as he stood. The three rushed from the room, following the signs to the Overseer's office. The door slid open with a groan and The Spine hurried in, the first one to the old radio on the desk. A few minutes later he nodded.

“I have it sent to broadcast, go ahead and play the tapes.”

Hatchworth loaded in the first tape and Rabbit's voice began playing through the speakers, singing about a girl with golden hair.

“So now what?” Rabbit asked.

“I don't know for certain,” The Spine said. “In the short term, we organize our water supply, ready ourselves to fight if we need to, and we wait. After a while we put out calls for trade when we need them. Maybe eventually we'll leave.” He simulated a sigh. “For now, I suppose we just think. Collect ourselves. I know I need time to wrap my head around everything.”

Rabbit and Hatchworth nodded in agreement.

“We're going to be fine though,” Hatchworth said cheerily. “Like Peter said, we have a legacy. We'll keep moving.”

The Spine smiled.

“You're right, Hatchy.”

Their future was uncertain, but the three remaining Walter Automatons, the last of the Walters, knew that they would keep going until they rusted away.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I promised never to leave a fic unfinished even if I moved on from the fandom, and this final chapter is proof of that. It just so happened that David released the Fallout 4 mod that inspired this fic in the first place and also a few people asked about it so I decided to finish it up.
> 
> Thank you for reading this fic and all of my SPG fics. Thanks to SPG for being the thing that got me into writing. Thank you to the people who left comments and kudos and encouragement. <3

**Author's Note:**

> I was originally going to post this as a one shot, but I decided to break it up after the first 1000 words or so, and hope that I get enough feedback/interest to finish.


End file.
